The NCAA Championship Game
By Raji, Moderator BangTheBook.com

The time is finally upon us. We have watched an entire season of college basketball. We watched great young freshmen make their mark in the game and great in conference play. We watched the great conference tournaments and feverishly filled out our brackets as the tournament seedings were announced. We watched those same brackets get shattered as great underdogs made the early run but when the dust settled, for the first time in history, all number one seeds made it to the final four in San Antonio Texas. The story lines have played out and the players and the coaches have been acknowledged of the best of the best but now it comes down to just two teams playing for the championship in college basketball.

Memphis

The first team to make the big game is Memphis. Memphis has held the number one spot most of the year in the national polls and won the conference tournament grabbing a number one seed for the NCAA tournament. Yet they were one of the first number one seeds that were predicted to make an early exit. No one outside of Tennessee thought this team had a shot to go this far, especially when they ran into Texas heading to the final four and the answered the call with a thumping of Texas. The critics still shunned it off and said there would be no way they would beat UCLA. After all UCLA had the experience and had been to the final four and were led by Kevin Love so there would be no way they could lose to Memphis but indeed they did. Memphis thumped the Bruins by double digits and Derrick Rose showed that he may be the best player on the court. The critics are quieter but still out there and Memphis has one more game to play.

Kansas

Kansas was the opposite of Memphis because they won all year and got respect for it. They came into the tournament as a number one seed and plenty of so called experts called on them to get this far. As they went through the teams to get this far they mopped the floor with lesser talent and it led up to a meeting with the North Carolina tarheels in the final four. The story lines were abundant as Roy Williams would be marching the opposing side line and had some history with Kansas. For sure this would be one of the better games of the year, but it wasn’t. The hype was over played and the teams took the court and North Carolina promptly fell behind big early. They started a valiant comeback but it was Brandon Rush for the Jayhawks that held on to the win and pulled away for a huge win for Kansas. Now they face Memphis and there is no more questions, no more doubting just one more game to play.

The Winner

This line has opened up at Kansas -1.5 and slipped to Memphis as a chalk in some places. The thing to know here is to look around as this line is jumping with the amount of action coming in on it. The winner of this game will have to play all facets of the game and be fundamentally sound. Coaching is a sweet edge but I just can’t get over the fact that Memphis can’t hit free throws. It has not hurt them so far but if this game is close it will. I like Kansas to win this game and win the NCAA Championship!

Final Four Betting Preview
Kansas (35-3) vs. North Carolina (36-2)
Saturday, 6:05 pm Eastern – CBS

SBG Global Opening Line: North Carolina   - 2, Total 158

 

Two teams with a lot of Final Four experience meet on Saturday as Kansas takes on North Carolina.  The Tar Heels are making their 17^th Final Four appearance and that is tied for most in history with UCLA.  North Carolina head coach Roy Williams is making his fourth Final Four appearance in the least seven years and is facing his former team.  The Tar Heels have an all-time record of 13-14 in Final Four games.  They are 8-8 in national semifinal games and 4-4 in championships games and 1-2 in third places games that used to be played. Kansas has advanced to the Final Four for the 13^th time in school history and third time in the last seven years. The Jayhawks own a 9-12 record in the Final Four going 7-5 in semifinal games, 2-5 in championship games and 0-2 in consolation games. SBG Global reports that the public taking North Carolina at Home.

 

Kansas has won a school-record tying 35 games this season. Kansas leads the nation in scoring margin (+19.4), while ranking in the top five in the country in assists, field goal percentage, field goal percentage defense and win-loss percentage. The Jayhawks feature four players scoring in double figures. Brandon Rush leads the team with a 13.1 scoring average followed by Darrell Arthur and Mario Chalmers, both at 12.7 and Darnell Jackson at 11.2.

 

The North Carolina frontcourt has National Player of the Year winner Tyler Hansbrough leading the way.  He will score a lot of points and dominate inside.  Kansas will rotate players and try and throw bodies at him all night.  The backcourt matchup has Brandon Rush, Mario Chalmers, Sherron Collins, and Russell Robinson for Kansas against Carolina’s talented point guard Ty Lawson.  Wayne Ellington can also shoot the ball for Carolina and he could be a major factor on Saturday.

SBG Global Current Line: North Carolina   - 3, Total 160

 

Here are the stats for Saturday’s game.  The Jayhawks are 6-1 ATS in their last 7 games as an underdog. The Jayhawks are 4-1 ATS in their last 5 neutral site games. The Jayhawks are 6-2 ATS in their last 8 non-conference games. The Jayhawks are 3-7 ATS in their last 10 vs. the ACC.

 

The Tar Heels are 4-0 ATS in their last 4 NCAA Tournament games. The Tar Heels are 5-1 ATS in their last 6 vs. the Big 12. The Tar Heels are 20-8 ATS in their last 28 Saturday games. The Tar Heels are 42-17-1 ATS in their last 60 non-conference games.

 

The Under is 4-0 in the Jayhawks last 4 neutral site games. The Under is 6-0 in the Jayhawks last 6 NCAA Tournament games. The Under is 35-16-1 in the Jayhawks last 52 non-conference games.

 

The Over is 4-1 in the Tar Heels last 5 neutral site games. The Over is 4-1 in the Tar Heels last 5 vs. the Big 12. The Over is 8-3 in the Tar Heels last 11 non-conference games. The Over is 20-8-1 in the Tar Heels last 29 games as a favorite.

 

Pick: Take UNC -3 and Over 160 5units each! For more Final Four discussion visit the College Basketball Betting Forum.

Final Four Betting Preview
Memphis (37-1) vs. UCLA (35-3)
Saturday, 8:45 pm Eastern – CBS

SBG Global Opening Line: Memphis  - 1, Total 133.5

 

The high scoring Memphis Tigers will try and play a fast paced game on Saturday while the UCLA Bruins will try and slow things down.  It should be an interesting contrast in the second game of the Final Four.  The Tigers have the top scorer left in the tournament in Chris Douglas-Roberts (90 points) while UCLA has All-American Kevin Love who has scored 87 points.  The Tigers also have Derrick Rose who is right behind those two with 82 points scored in the tournament. SBG Global reports that the public taking Memphis on the Road.

 

This will be the third straight Final Four for UCLA while it is the Tigers first Final Four appearance since 1985.  The Tigers are taking this very seriously though as Joey Dorsey was seen practicing with former Memphis NBA star Penny Hardaway this week.  The Tigers don’t seem worried about UCLA trying to slow the game down. “It doesn’t really matter. They can’t really dictate the tempo unless we allow them to,” Douglas-Roberts said. The Tigers and Bruins met two years ago when UCLA took Memphis out of their game and won 50-45 in the regional final. Chris Douglas-Roberts was just a freshman in that game and didn’t play that well.  It is different now as Douglas-Roberts has more experience. “His ability to shoot balls. His ability to score in traffic. His physical play because he’s gained weight. You’re not going to throw him around and do stuff they did in that game,” Memphis head coach John Calipari said.  The Bruins will try and contain Douglas-Roberts with Russell Westbrook who is an outstanding defender.

SBG Global Current Line: Memphis  - 2, Total 133.5

 

Here are the stats for Saturday’s game. The Tigers are 2-5 ATS in their last 7 vs. the Pacific-10.

 

The Bruins are 22-7-1 ATS in their last 30 games as an underdog. The Bruins are 1-4 ATS in their last 5 Saturday games.

 

The Over is 4-0 in the Tigers last 4 neutral site games. The Over is 4-0 in the Tigers last 4 non-conference games. The Over is 5-0 in the Tigers last 5 NCAA Tournament games. The Under is 4-0 in the Tigers last 4 vs. the Pacific-10.

 

The Over is 4-1 in the Bruins last 5 games as an underdog. The Over is 7-2 in the Bruins last 9 Saturday games. The Under is 6-2 in the Bruins last 8 NCAA Tournament games as an underdog. The Under is 16-6 in the Bruins last 22 NCAA Tournament games.

 

Pick: Take Memphis -2 5units! For more Final Four discussion visit the College Basketball Betting Forum.